1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bathing chamber that presents a number of different bathing conditions in a sequence of operation.
2. Prior Art
Baths and bathing have been from early times considered one of the more pleasurable past times important to one's well being. The Roman bath, hot and bubbling baths, the sauna, sun bathing and steam baths are examples of the many forms bathing may take. Man has enjoyed the pleasures of bathing since earliest writings. Early references to bathing appear in the Bible (Leviticus 16, 17; Number 19) and built-in bath and drainage systems have been found in Greek ruins more than 3,000 years old. The Romans are well known for their large public baths, and mineral baths and spas have long been associated in Europe with fashionable resorts, and also as having therapeutic value for treatment of bodily ailments.
Various attributes are described for bathing, usually reflecting the user's personal reaction to and notions of the effect of the bath. It is variously described as relaxing, reducing tensions, invigorating, relieving soreness or strain, or just simply as enjoyable and pleasurable. The sun gives warmth and a satisfaction from tanning the body. The warm environments of the sauna, steam bath and hot room have their special effects, and water bathing in a tub or shower with hot or cold water induce their own particular effects upon the bather.
Normally, only one form of bath is experienced at a time. The steam bath, for example, has its own special room for entering and sitting, or box in which the body is enclosed with the user's head protruding. The sauna bath similarly has a specially made chamber with its unique wood interior and splashing of water on hot rocks or stove. Heat and sun lamps are unitary devices, and the many forms of tubs and whirlpool arrangements are constructed with but one form of bath in mind.
There has been some suggestion of combining different bathing functions into a single apparatus. In Carlson, U.S. Pat. No. 1,985,147 an ordinary bathing tub is extended upward to form a chamber. A shower spray is provided and also a steam inlet for medicinal, vapor treatment. The patent mentions the use of hot air and electrical heating apparatus in combination with the bathing unit, but does not disclose how to incorporate these features into the equipment. Renstrom, in U.S. Pat. No. 585,344 placed a couch beneath a shower and a mist emitting device, and also provided for electrical therapy in what he termed a hygiene apparatus. Compton, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,118 shows a shower stall with a built-in seat and hot air blowers leading into the stall to circulate air of a comfortable temperature for drying the user. These various devices are oriented toward therapeutic treatment for patients, rather than the creation of baths to be used on a regular basis by normally healthy persons for securing the multiple advantages of a variety of different bathing environments.